everyone's a critic

I didn't stamp for a few days and lost my mojo...it comes and goes so easily. So I've spent the better part of this last week buying stamps and not actually stamping. I scored some A muse stamps that have been on my wish list for a while.

Tonight I decided to play with some of them...

It's very plain but I think I was trying too hard to use the new stamps. Last week with the 'Rock Star' stamp this came naturally...this one felt a bit forced. Maybe it's because I'm not a nature girl, I'm an air conditioning kinda girl. :-)

Back to the title...I showed this card to my husband and he did not feel it was one of my best. His contribution to the card was the grass, he felt the deer was hovering and needed to be grounded. I'll get him stamping one of these days!

Images & Paper: A muse. Ink: Prismacolor, Copic, Memento, Tombow, Kohn-I-Nor pencils & gamsol.

not too hot...

quick post since I'm not feeling too great...card is for Addicts challenges, yet another rock star...

Images & Paper: A muse. Ink: Memento & Prismacolor Markers

Ode to John Mayer...

My friends and family know that I obsessed about one thing in particular, John Mayer. I was able to go to one of his concerts late last year and sit in the fifth row. So after playing with the 'Rock Star' stamp this week my thoughts turned to John Mayer and that concert. In the past, if I'm on floor at a concert I can weasel my way to the front. Unfortunately the Mayer concert was an exception, there were tons of police separating the stage and the front row. This card is my memory of that night...

Images: A muse Ink: Memento, Prismacolor, Spica pen

Technique note: I found the tip on how to do the spotlight from Julie E.





The other funny thing about this design is that in came to me this afternoon while I was at work. I even got out a piece of paper to sketch it so I wouldn't forget. Here's a picture of the sketch which clearly appears to be drawn by my three year old.

dude...sweet!

This is officially my favorite I've ever done!!! The A muse addicts challenge is to use 1 of 4 stamps on your card. Of the 4 I only have one...rock star. So this week will be devoted to all things rock staresque. To create this image I masked his strumming arm, then stamped him on the page next I inked up his strumming arm and flipped it upside down. I couldn't have done it without my stamp-a-ma-jig!!!

Paper & Images: A muse. Ink: Memento, prismacolor markers, spica glitter pens & stickles

when the cats away...

I was almost where I wanted to be with this card, the only thing I was stuck on was the sentiment as usual. I might still try and figure it out!

I used the rock star stamp and masked him over the couch to make it look like he was jumping off. Then i used the girls night out and masked the girl piece, I wrote in boys to finish the idea.

Paper & Images: A muse. Ink: Memento, Koh-I-Noor pencils, gamsol.

Coffee Cup

I created these cards for the Amuse Addicts Weekly Challenge...the coffee cup is really cute and had been waiting to use it!

This first card was a fun for me, my husband loves his starbucks in the morning. Luckily where we work there's a Starbucks on site, it's rare to see him from 8-11 without a cup in his hand. It doesn't even have to be warm, which I find pretty gross!

I cut a slit in the back on the truck to slide in the cup of coffee. Then I used a pop dot to give it some dimension.

Paper & Images: A muse. Ink: Memnto, Koh-I-Noor pencils w/gamsol, and prismacolor markers.

This next card was actually the first card I made, I had stamped three cups but could only fit two so the previous card was born! I'm still working on the AP online class and my favorite take away so far has been the brown paper I used for this card. It really makes an image pop so I'm going to try and pick some up! Other than that I got to play with my new color pencils, they were nice but I'll need to learn to have a lighter touch. I'm one of those people who get blisters on their writing hand from pressing so hard on the pen/pencil.

Paper & Images: A muse. Ink: Memnto, Koh-I-Noor pencils w/gamsol.

Marker Storage

I'm in love with my new marker storage. I picked up a tip on splitcoast about using the Quickutz Magpie storage, upside down. It's just the right size and it allows me to see all the colors without going thru my pencil box, which was my previous storage! The great thing is there's still room to grow my marker collection.

when inspiration strikes...

I got this and 10 other cards from the Paper Garden Boutique in Sacramento, CA. I believe it was part of the make-n-takes from the AP party going on. I really liked it and wanted to do something similar so here's my take below...

















It's raining candy!!! I used the cloud stamp and masked the snowflakes. Then used the candy stamps that came with kit to fall from the clouds, I also put one in the elf's hand. The last thing I did was use the 'home sweet home' & 'warm wishes' to get 'sweet wishes'

Paper and Stamps: A muse. Ink: Spica Glitter pen, prismscolor markers & memento ink

My favorite color

is Purple! I use it whenever I get the chance. I usually pair it with green for a nice combo. For this card I was able to pull out my prismacolor pencils and gamsol. I'm totally hooked on this method...color, blend, color some more, blend some more and so on!

Images & Paper: A muse. Ink: Memento & Prismacolor pencils.

Wishing You...

AP is winding down for the year, one of the last things being offered is a stamp kit with a free online class. This is the first card I made from the class and it took me forever to finish it. I think I got hung up on looking at how great the original card looked and I over thought the placement of each stamp. Hopefully the rest will go a bit faster...

Images & paper: A muse. Ink: Memento, Colorbox, Prismacolor.

AP Clear Challenge

This is a quick card for the AP clear sticker challenge. I used two of the new stamps from the most recent release. I also got the chance to play with a new punch I picked up this weekend.

Images& Paper: A muse. Ink: Versamark.

I really have been stamping...

I just haven't had the chance to update in a while. I was able to take a day off from work and I had the whole house to myself. So I spent the afternoon stamping, which was perfect since it was raining outside.

I made a few cards for last week's AP challenges but each took an hour. It truly takes me a while to get my ideas together. I always read about people that knock out cards in 5-10 minutes but it takes me that long (or more) to figure out what stamp I'm going to use. Here are the ones I worked on this past weekend.

Images: A muse. Ink: Memento Paper: A muse. Images: ScrappyCat Ink: Memento Images: A muse, Studio G. Ink: MementoImages & Ribbon: A muse. Ink: Memento

AP Goodies

Here are my goodies from this year's AP, time to get stamping!

home again!

It's great to be home again, last week wrapped up my travel for the summer. I had a wonderful time in San Francisco. We ate dinner on the pier 39, which overlooks Alcatraz island. I missed taking a tour this trip but I hope to go back soon. Thursday night we were able to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit at the SF MOMA. It was amazing to be able to see it in person! It was a lot of fun but I couldn't wait to get home to see my boys.

Here's a quick card I did for the glitter challenge over at the AP blog, it's also going to double as a birthday card for a friend tomorrow. I showed my mom, husband, and my sister the card and none of them got it. Basically any mariachi in town sings, the happy birthday song by repeating 'to you' a few times. Once they thought about it they got it, hopefully I won't have to explain it too much. Also I'm not much of a flower girl but I messed up and they were the best thing to hide my mistakes.

Stamps & Paper: A muse. Ink: Momento, Prismacolor & Stickles.

A muse Stamps for Sale

So I came home from my trip this week with an additional 30 A muse stamps, so it's time for a little house cleaning. Most of the stamps are brand new, never seeing ink in their lives. A few have ink stains on the wood but that has no effect on the stamped image. All rubber is intact! Please email me if you are interested in buying any of these, they will go to the person that emails and pays through paypal first.

Here is the shipping info to the continental U.S. ONLY, sorry no international orders!

1-2 stamps - $2.00
3-5 stamps - $3.00
6-10 stamps - $5.50
10+ stamps - will send invoice thru paypal

A Muse stamps for Sale

bbq

This was a quick little card for the AP challenge this past weekend. The background paper reminded of the 4th of july so I went with the BBQ theme. I didn't originally want glitter on the pit but I used it to cover up a mistake I made. I had initially colored it blue but it didn’t really stand out. So I colored it red, of course it turns purple! Stickles to the rescue, it covered my mistake perfectly.

Shopping...

I made this card for a challenge over @ 2Peas, I've been wanting to play with this stamp for a while but I could not get it to work for me. I finally gave up and drew in the spots that would not stamp clearly.

Today I was lucky enough to visit the Paper Garden Boutique in Sacramento, CA. My local stamp store has a really small selection of stamps so I was completely blown away by the inventory at Paper Garden. It was truly a stampers dream, I picked up quite a few stamps on my wish list, paper and a couple of Copics. I can't wait to get home and play with my new goodies!!!

Stamps: A muse, Rubber Romance. Paper: Paper Studio. Ink: Colorbox, Stickles.

father's day

I was working in my craft room on Saturday and my son asked if could make his dad a card for Father's Day. How could I say no?! I had punched out a few some scalloped circles for a project I was starting and he decided to use those. This is his creation...

happy things...

I was in a major stamping mood last weekend, and this is another of the cards I came up with at the request of my son. He was looking at my stamps and picked out the ice cream stamp! When I finished it, he carried it around all day...so sweet! I picked up a new camera so excuse the incorrect date!

Stamps & Paper: A muse. Ink: Colorbox & Tombow.

The worst two days ever...

Ugh...I thought I was an independent girl. Thought I could handle things on my own but I was wrong way wrong. Apparently when I got married I forgot all my single girl skills. Just to give you a reference point, I don't remember the last time I even pumped my own gas.

Long story short, there's a big rash of 'vandals' in my town breaking car windows and slashing tires. I was lucky enough to have my window broken and my husband out of town. Fast forward to a day and half of arguing with my insurance company over glass in the car, a flat tire, glass filed car seat, a breakdown at the Honda dealership and way too much money spent, the damage was fixed. I'm exhausted!!